GE nixes possible Ansaldo STS purchase

Fairfield, Conn.-based General Electric Co. said Friday, April 4, 2014 it sees no route for purchasing Ansaldo STS from parent Finmeccanica S.p.A.

Said GE Europe President and CEO Nani Beccalli-Falco, "When things drag on for a long time it becomes difficult to conclude. The first time we looked at Ansaldo STS was ten years ago and we never concluded anything. There is no room to reach an agreement."

The Italian government owns roughly 30% of Rome-based Finmeccanica. Two years ago Finmeccanica announced its intent to sell its own 40% stake in Ansaldo STS, along with other assets, to cut debt.

Ansaldo STS, with headquarters in Genoa, is the parent company of Pittsburgh-based Ansaldo STS USA, formerly Union Switch & Signal. GE presumably would have folded the U.S.-based operation into Erie, Pa.-based GE Transportation

Tokyo-based Hitachi, Ltd., itself part of Hitachi Group, has been cited as another potential suitor to Ansaldo STS in the past two years.